REQ: Brainworx bx_digital V3 - Plugin Alliance (Mac-Win)

Brainworx's revolutionary flagship product, bx_digital, was the first commercially available Mid/Side equalizer plugin, and it still reigns supreme today as the EQ for mixing and mastering.

The seminal plugin's first major upgrade, bx_digital V2, was voted #1 Best Plug-in of the Decade by Future Music and quickly became the standard by which other equalizers are judged.

The 11-band equalizer's forward-thinking feature set includes parametric bell, high- and low-shelving, and high- and low-pass filters for each channel; mono, dual-mono (L/R), stereo and mid-side modes of operation; a mid-side decoder (especially useful for recording acoustic instruments, drums and even bigger ensembles in a super mono-compatible and extremely natural way); spectrum-balancing Bass and Presence Shifters; the pioneering Mono Maker summing tool; and comprehensive imaging, monitoring and metering facilities for high-level mastering.

Now Even More Powerful

With the release of bx_digital V3, the bar just got raised again. The major update extends the High Frequency band's upper range to 40 kHz to sweeten and add ‘air’ to high-resolution audio tracks, mixes and masters. A Dynamic EQ module, API-style Proportional Q filters and six notch filters (three per channel) have been added to handle any surgical mix or mastering task, making it a perfect tool for film mixing and post production as well. The unique Bass and Presence Shifters have been made much more versatile, each now offering a selection of three different tilt filters that balance and unmask hidden details in your mixes.

V3's transparent high pass and low pass filters now provide alternate slopes to sculpt your tracks' high and low end and selectively weed out rumble and hiss with greater precision. And the new, global Gain Scale control makes proportional gain changes to all parametric, shelving, and Bass and Presence Shift filters at once—preserving your carefully wrought balance across all bands as you dial in the perfect overall amount of EQ.

All this power comes in two workspaces—separate component plugins for mixing and mastering—to help you work faster. On individual tracks that don't need surgical equalization, the "bx_digital V3 mix" plugin simplifies operation by excluding mid-side processing and additional meters. On your main subgroups and the master stereo bus during mixdown and mastering sessions, use the "bx_digital V3" plugin to roll out the big guns: a full complement of Mid/Side equalization controls and separate meters for pre- and post-EQ signal levels, L/R balance and correlation. Advanced imaging controls let you independently pan your mix's mid and side channels, widen the stereo image, swap left and right channels and center the phantom stereo image.

V3 for Clearer and Cleaner-Sounding Mixes and Masters

V3 is not a "character" EQ. It's eminently pristine, using ultra-transparent filters that minimize phase shift and frequency masking to deliver clearer and more focused mixes and masters. The Bass and Presence Shifters produce opposing boosts and cuts in adjacent bands to prevent excess spectral energy buildup that can make mixes sound boomy, blurry or edgy. Each Shifter in V3 offers a selection of three different tilt-equalization sounds featuring different boost and cut frequencies, bandwidths and relative gain.

Use them, for example, to boost your mix's low-bass punch while simultaneously clearing out muddy upper-bass and low-midrange frequencies. Or increase presence to spotlight guitars and vocals, while softening searing cymbals. You'll work faster: a mouse click and single knob twist are all it takes!

V3's new Proportional Q filters are another huge plus. These filters progressively adapt the Q as you increase or decrease gain, focusing your boosts and cuts exactly where they're needed and without suffering tradeoffs in neighboring bands. Boost bass frequencies on male vocals to accentuate the singer's powerful chest register—without muddying the lower midrange. Cut honky midrange frequencies on the kick drum track while fully preserving the beater's high-frequency slap. V3 is precise.

The V3 update also updates the simple De-Esser that was included in bx_digital V2 to a much more versatile Dynamic EQ that can compress or upwardly expand any frequency band from 20 to 22 kHz. Sure, the Dynamic EQ can still de-ess sibilant vocals and cymbals. But you can also use it to automatically attenuate bass frequencies on an acoustic guitar track only when the guitar gets boomy, leaving it unprocessed at all other times. Or use it to boost bass drums in complex signals. You can also tame the high frequencies of a vocal performance automated, only when a singer hits the top of their range.

The Dynamic EQ is all about consistent tone—and less need for time-consuming EQ automation. Setup is a snap: a Solo function lets you hear the frequency band that the Dynamic EQ will treat as you dial it in. Set the Speed switch to Fast to nip speedy sibilance in the bud or Slow to tame boomy bass frequencies without pumping. Place the Dynamic EQ before or after V3's main filter section with the click of a mouse.

V3's innovative Solo functions help you make smarter EQ decisions while working fast. Activate the Auto-Solo and Auto-Listen switches to add touch-sensitive functionality to Gain, Q and Frequency controls in all bands. With Auto Listen, the Gain and Q controls will automatically solo the respective changes they apply to each band, while doing the same to a Frequency control will automatically solo the filter in the channel. Auto Solo automatically switches monitoring to the respective channel (M or S, L or R) on which Gain, Q and Frequency are being adjusted. Separate frequency-response graphs for each channel constantly update to illustrate the results of your tweaks. You'll see and hear your EQ adjustments like never before.


FEATURES
Three operational modes: L/R (dual-mono), M/S Master (Mid/Side) and unique M/S Recording (processes Mid/Side signals in real-time and outputs L/R stereo)
Mono, dual-mono, stereo and Mid/Side configurations, multi-mono (Surround)
Two component plugins simplify and speed workflow for mixing and mastering
Eleven broadly overlapping bands per channel
LF, LMF, MF, HMF and HF bands are fully parametric (offering separate Gain, Q and Frequency controls in each band) and can be switched globally for Proportional Q response
LMF, MF and HMF bands each provide notch filtering at their lowest gain setting, while offering adjustable Q per band
LF and HF bands provide respective low- and high-shelving EQ at their lowest Q setting
Separate, continuously variable low-pass and high-pass filter for each channel, each offering 6dB or 12dB/octave slope or bypassed state
Bass Shift and Presence Shift modules each offer three tilt-equalization sounds
Dynamic EQ module boosts or cuts only when needed to correct undesirable, momentary peaks or enhance your signal with creative boosts
Gain Scale control adjusts all gain controls for parametric, shelving, and Bass and Presence Shift filters at once; negative values invert the EQ curve to change boosts to cuts and vice versa
Mono Maker folds frequencies to mono below its selected corner frequency (20 Hz to 22 kHz), lending focus to any part of your mix and helping to preserve the side channel's headroom when tightening the low-end
Extremely flexible control linking: Each band and filter can be independently linked with its respective counterpart in the opposing channel (left-channel filter linked to its corresponding right-channel filter, or mid linked to side)